Improvement in felly-plates



F. B. MORSE.

Improvement in Helly-Plates.

No. 128,558.' Patentedluly 2,1872.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS B. MORSE, OF PLANTSVILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TOv H. D. SMITH85 CO., OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FELLY-PLATES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.128,558, dated July 2,1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS B. MoEsE, of Plantsville, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inFelly-Plates; 'and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawing constitutes part of this specification andrepresents, in-

Figure 1, a side view; Fig. 2, a top view; Fig. 8, a longitudinalcentral section; Fig. 4, a transverse section on line w x,- Fig. 5, atransverse section on line y y; and in Fig. 6, the blank from which theplate is formed.

This invention relates to an improvement in the article of manufactureknown to the trade as felly-plates-that is to say, the plate which isplaced upon the inside of the felly of a carriage-wheel to cover thejoint, and through each end of which a bolt extends, securing the saidplate to each part of the felly. Heretofore these plates have beenforged, and various devices adopted to give the requisite strength andyet not mar the symmetry of the wheel, an object which in my presentinvention has been accomplished; and it consists in forming the platefrom thin sheet metal, with a transverse corrugation to give to theplate the requisite strength.

From a blank, A, of thin sheet-steel or other suitable metal, cast intothe form seen in Fig. 6, I form the plate. This form of the blankcorresponds essentially with the blanks commonly used, but being verythin is not of suficient strength to perform its office without someadditional support. Heretofore these plates have been of suiicient'thickness to give the required strength, which left an edge so thick asto materially mar the symmetry of the wheel. This thin blank I strikeinto the form seen in Figs. l and 2. Transversely across the center Imake a single corrugation, as at B, Fig. 3, the corrugation dying outnear the extremes of the sides, as seen in Figs. l and 2. Thisstrengthens the plate transversely, a transverse section being shown inFig. 4, and when thus formed and corrugated the plate is transverselymuch stronger than a thicker plate would be. At the two ends I form aiiat surface, C, which serves for the head of the bolt, a transversesection at this point shown in Fig. 5.

By this construction the edges of the blank are in no way affected,retaining the same degree of smoothness vand regularity in which theycome from the dies which cut them, and as the blanks are shaped cold noafter-finish is required to be given-.to the plate to smooth itssurface, hence I am enabled to produce a better plate and at muchlesscost than plates as heretofore constructed. Another advantage which thisplate possesses over other constructions is worthy of mention. Inputting together wheels of rst-class work the joints of the 'felly areusually filled with white lead, which, as the wheel is compressed, is toa certain extent forced outward, and in the use of this plate the leadthus forced out Will lill the cavity in the under side of thefelly-plate over the joint, and thus more perfectly protect the joint,and this plate when attached to the wheel is so thin as to be scarcelyperceptible, the corrugation presenting the appearance of a T-headedbolt. I claim as my invention- As an article of manufacture, the hereindescribed felly-plate formed from sheet metal, having a transverseeorrugation, substantially in the manner set forth.

Witnesses: F. B. MORSE.

J oEN H. SHUMWAY, A. J. Tmnrrs.

